Chews

My next round of fruit snacks come from Hawaiian Punch. I was excited to see they are branching out in regard to their products. The only other candy item of Hawaiian Punch’s that I know of is their jelly beans (which I liked). I was never a big drinker of Hawaiian Punch, but I do recall liking the flavor on rare occasions.

Firstly, I want to address the box. Sorry, but the newly rendered drawing of the mascot is just creepy. The original 2D drawing of him with his very abstract beachcomber hat is so fun and iconic to me. I really loved how they almost looked like antlers.

I was impressed with the large flavor variety these snacks had. They managed to take all sorts of flavors and give them trademarked names no less, and all of them are kinda in that tropical themed area. Very fun.

Orange Ocean: Shaped like an orange slice, the color is a deep orange red. Just smells sweet and fruity. The flavor is very bright and orange, with nice tart notes to it.

Green Berry Rush: Looks like a raspberry but it’s a light, neon green color. The flavor is strange, it’s like a lime/strawberry flavor. Strange tart notes with a jammy sweetness.

Lemon Berry Squeeze: Shaped like a whole lemon, even with dimples! The flavor is more mellow than the others. It tastes like a typical lemon fruit snack, it has lemon flavors but isn’t tart at all.

Fruit Juicy Red: This one is the Hawaiian Punch fella in bright, deep red. The taste is very mild, you barely get notes of the Hawaiian punch flavor amongst the sweetness.

Mango Passion Fruit Squeeze: This one is also Hawaiian Punch fella in shape, but is more of a light yellow orange. The taste is very peachy and vibrant. I get some notes of melon in there. By far the most tropical tasting of the bunch.

Berry Blue Typhoon: This is the Hawaiian Punch logo in a teal green color. The taste is sweet and vague. It has berry notes to it but it’s forgettable.

I think this is a packet of fruit snacks that kids (and kids at heard) who’d like a lot. They come in a bunch of fun colors and flavors. And even though I found some of the flavors to be unexciting to me, I feel any kid would be totally pumped to get these in their lunchbox. It’s more that overall, these taste “fun”. So from the angle of a kid, I’d be excited about them. I know at least back in school I would be.

I was recently presented with a lovely selection of samples of different kinds of fruit snacks from Farley’s and Sathers Candy Company, Inc. I want to make note of again, before I start all these reviews, that because I accept free samples from companies doesn’t mean I am guaranteeing them a great review or any other from of repayment for the free stuff. No, I review this stuff because I like to try things. If the product stinks, I’ll say so.

With that being said, I figured I’d start this fruit snack review with the thought of: are fruit snacks candy? I wouldn’t have thought so right away, and then I noticed Cybele over at candyblog.net reviewed these Simpson’s Fruit Snacks. When I now think about it, yeah, they are re-packaged gummi candies. It’s just they’re not every shelved with the candy items in the store, so it must be there to dupe Mother’s into thinking these are a good substitute for fruit. Or at least that’s what kids want them to think.

Heck, as a kid, I loved these things. I was the best day ever, when I found a packet of these in my lunch box. Which, wasn’t very often at all. Even now, my boyfriend still loves these things, and you should have seen the smile on his face when we saw me bring these home. I had to be very careful he didn’t eat them all before I did my reviews.

These TreeTop Fruit Snacks were my only samples that didn’t come in a complete box. I only know TreeTop for the fruit juice boxes I’ve seen in stores, I’ve never actually had them since I’m not a big juice drinker.

The “Fruit Dimensions” appeared to be more tropical and citrus oriented:

Orange: Juicy and has some peachy notes to it at first. More orange flavors show up afterward but they’re very mild.

Peach: Mild and juicy, more like a berry flavor. It’s very jammy, and no real “peach” flavors to me.

Pineapple: very floral and juicy, has notes I’d expect from pineapple. Yum.

Berry: mild and juicy. this tastes like a ripe blackberry to me, but much sweeter.

Orange: Much different than the last one. This one actually tastes like orange. Bight, zesty citrus notes. I really liked it.

Cherry: Nice and sweet with deep black cherry flavors. Doesn’t come off as medicinal at all.

Strawberry: Mild, but very jammy and sweet. I like it.

Berry: Sweet and mild as well. The flavor isn’t very distinct at all. Can’t say what berry it is.

These are pretty tasty. Some of the flavors didn’t “wow” me but that’s really no good gauge as to how a kid would react to these. I let my boyfriend taste these too and he enjoyed them, so as far a fruit snack choices, if the flavors here appeal to you, these are worth a try.

I found this package of Starburst Sweet Fiesta in the same store as I found the Skittle Blenders from last week. The discovery took me by surprise, and I was totally excited to give these a taste. I’d seen pictures of them floating around the internet, with no indication of where they were found. I snatched up a roll of these and happy went to the checkout.

I am a long time Starburst fan, so it’s a candy I am always willing to return to. My favorites are the original flavors and the “California Fruits”, the name they went by in the ‘80s when I was a kid, or “Baja” fruits as they called them before they discontinued them. It’s the one with the blue on the packaging in case you remember. Starburst does limited edition flavors every so often. There was Starburst Retro, Starburst Twisted, Starburst Smoothies, Starburst Berries & Crème….yeah, you get the idea. So I am unsure of these Sweet Fiesta flavors are a one in a blue moon thing of if they actually have a permanent place in the Starburst family.

So here we have “Sweet Fiesta” flavors. The packaging is nice, using the purple color to highlight the new flavor and to keep things colorful. The flavor list took some turning of the package to find, but it lists Cherry Mango, Peach Guava, Melon Berry and Strawberry Pineapple. Ok, call me skeptical but none of those really scream “fiesta” to me. Most are more mundane fruit flavors splashed with some tropical ones. Eh, we’ll see once I taste them I guess.

Cherry Mango (red): The taste is sweet and very start at first. it’s sweet, then the sweetness grows into what taste just like cherries and mango, which, mushed together, tasted like tropical punch. Tasty!

Peach Guava (orange): I’m excited about this one. The taste is immediately sweet and juicy at first. The flavor of the peach shows pup and softens the tartness notes. The guava is unnoticeable to be honest, and the flavor gets really tart and starts to taste like pineapple. This isn’t something I was expecting. I was hoping this would be very juicy and tropical tasting, but nope, it’s pineapple.

Strawberry Pineapple (pink): Starts of tasting like the regular strawberry flavor, but with more tart, juicy notes of the pineapple. I have to say that the strawberry is the more dominant flavor of the two, but you still get a nice taste of the other, so it’s a good blending.

Melon Berry (green): Tastes of honey dew melon to start. The flavor is sweet with only a slight tang to it. I get more “berry notes” in it towards the end, and they just taste more “fruity” than of any specific berry. Still the melon part is very nice, with juicy flavors and a floral edge to it. Yummy.

The flavors were good but not enough to “wow” me. I was looking most forward to Peach Guava and it ended up not tasting of the fruit at all, which was disappointing. Still, it’s a solid selection of Starburst flavors, so if you’re a big fan I’d recommend trying them. These were yummy, just not what I was hoping for. Can I have my Baja California Fruits flavor back please?

I had heard about these new Skittles Blenders! through whisperings on the internet. Without a real hint as to where I might find them, I was happy with knowing I’d stumble across them eventually. That’s exactly what happened on a work break where my friend and I decided to walk over to a convenience store. We were both suffering from the afternoon slump and figured a quick walk should do the trick, plus she was hankering for some beef jerky. So lo and behold, inside the store, sat these new Skittle. I found candy gold, yay!

The wrapper’s color scheme is gorgeous as always with lots of bold, bright colors. The main color base is yellow, which reminds me of the Carnival Skittles from a few years ago. That makes me a little sad because I adored those flavors….ah, *ahem* annnyyways. Yes, Skittles Blenders! yellow color, yes.

Upon openings the package it smells sweet and fruity, and it reminds me of that “pink” strawberry flavor you find with candy sometimes. It’s a hard to place, sweet, berry flavor that just reads as a color. The color palette of the Skittle is a strange, some are very intense in hue and others a little pastel.

Melon Berry (blue): This starts off very sweet and fruity. It’s hard to lay my finger on it, but yes, it does comes across as honey dew and berries. It gets more tart toward the end of the candy, which is strange. Still, this one was tasty and pleasant.

Strawberry Lime Blast (pink): I immediately taste both flavored at the start. Sweet berry with a hint of floor cleaner. The flavors keep battling for the forefront throughout the entire chew of the candy. One moment it’s insanely sweet, the next tastes of chemicals. It’s strange.

Watermelon Green Apple Freeze (green): The flavor starts out tasting a tad like bananas before the juicy watermelon flavor starts to kick in. It’s tart and is that artificial watermelon flavor. The green apple doesn’t kick in until almost the end, where it’s even more tart and zesty flavor kicks through. An interesting blend.

Mango Lemonade (orange): Starts off very perfumey and floral. The flavor then mellows out a little and you get a sweetness which is non descriptive. I was looking for hints of lemon but there wasn’t any. Instead this has a very pungent taste to it, my take it’s the best “chemical” produced flavor for mango they have yet. Strange and a little sad since I was very much looking forward to this one.

Cherry Tropicolada (red): Flavor is generically fruity at first, with hints of banana and pineapple. The cherry shows through for a moment, with its bright “red” flavors, but the juicy taste of the tropics easily drowns it out.

I found these tasty and like regular Skittles I’d eat them again if they were handed to me. I found them much more enjoyable than the Berry and Tropical flavors, but they still don’t stand up to the Carnival version in my mind. So if you’re a Skittles fan, they’re worth a try!

When I was a kid growing up in northern California, I recall going grocery shopping with my Mom at a specific, locally-owned store in town. This place stood out in my mind because the lady who owned it loved children, and she always allowed me to take one Orange Slice candy from her candy bins. This makes a huge impression on children, of course, which is why I remember it to this day. I have a fondness for this candy, which made me very excited when Farley and Sathers Candy Company asked to send me some free samples in the mail. One of the samples was a collection of some new or revamped candy by Brach’s. I’ll be reviewing the others after today, but for now, we’re going to start with my new, re-vamped favorite: Mandarin Orange Slices.

The slices are large, about an 1 inch and 1/2 long and about 1/2 tall. The “sections” are rounded and use high relief style, they protrude pretty stylistically from the center of the candy, unlike most candy molds. It has an dusting of granulated sugar on top, which seems to be more finely ground then the earlier versions of these. It smells slightly of orange.

The flavor is immediately fruity and flavorful. You get a mild taste at first of sweetness and oranges, then it grows as it sits in your mouth. The orange flavor grows more juicy and tangy, giving it a more tangerine taste to me. It’s ends with with a very zesty note, which I like a lot. The gummi has a thick and sticky shew which really makes the candy feel substantial. Thankfully it isn’t sticky enough to for it to adhere to my molars. The flavor does come across as different compared to my memory of this candy. Sure I’ve had it in recent years, but not having one for a side by side comparison I have to go by memory. The older ones I recall being more sweet, whereas the new ones incorporated some of the tartness you get with citrus fruit. A tasty decision.

It feels like they made this candy more “natural” and “grown up”, but it’s still something I would have begged for as a kid. I wasn’t a sour fan as a kid, but the tartness really appeals to me. These are lovely and something I plan on buying once I see them in stores.